Commentary on Mildred's "Where is my plastic bag?"

 Mildred's commentary about the banning of plastic bags leaving people that work in the manufactories jobless is correct.  I did not stress this factor, but she has a good point.  What happens to the 4,500 people that worked in manufacturing plastic bags?  Will they be put to manufacture paper bags?  

 I don’t understand how plastic bags are effecting our environment, I feel like they are only effecting our environment if they are not recycled properly.   

Paper bags would kill our environment by killing our trees.  Is that what people prefer?   Maryland and Brownsville seem to have this plastic bag ordinance straight.

 Brownsville charges $1 for unlimited plastic bags. Maryland charges 5 cents per plastic bag at grocery stores.  That is a fair price, and it also leaves residents happy.  

A citizen reaction to the banning of plastic bags in Austin is like half content, half frustrated.  I work at a retail store myself, and there is constantly people complaining because we no longer supply plastic bags. If we were able to still keep the plastic bags and charge people a small fee, it would make local residents happy.  If we could just be able to let people choose what they wanted, instead of making half of the town mad.

Plastic Bag Ban Bad

As we all know, in March 2013, the City of Austin banned plastic shopping bags.  Plastic bags are one of the most common items in everyday life, so for many of us, it was inconvenient.  For me, it just meant that I now have to spend money on purchasing plastic bags instead of receiving them for free at any local store.  Banning the plastic shopping bags made many people in Austin angry, including me.  Plastic bags were used for many important things like cleaning up dog waste, garbage bags, and groceries.  Banning plastic bags only means the use of paper bags which means cutting more trees! People are now forced to spend money on buying paper and cotton bags and guess what, more taxes! The government also has to spend more money on providing the use of paper and cotton bags.  If it costs more money why do it? The majority of people in Austin that use plastic bags reuse them. Reusable and paper alternatives cost a lot more money as well as the environment to manufacture. Plastic bags may have a negative impact when they are disposed of incorrectly, but at least trees do not need to be axed to make them. Unlike paper bags, plastic bags do not destroy the environment before they are even sold or given away to the public.  Austin needs to enforce the reuse of plastic bags, not ban them.  Why ban when we can control? It cost way more money to make paper bags than plastic! If we are trying to save the environment, how are we saving it by killing trees and using paper?